Boeing has become an unofficial proxy for fears about an escalating U.S.-China trade war. Investors are right to be worried

Boeing has become an unofficial proxy for fears about an escalating U.S.-China trade war. Investors are right to be worried, even if it seems like China needs 737s as much as Boeing needs to sell them.

Neither the aerospace giant nor the commercial aircraft industry in general have been mentioned in any official tariff pronouncements by the Trump Administration or Beijing. It has been about other things: soy, steel, pigs and pipes. Nevertheless, Boeing has been among the worst-hit stocks because of the trade tensions. Its...